Strawberry Swap

I have participated in a couple of swaps this summer on Instagram.  One of my favorite swaps is the Strawberry Swap.  This is my second round of it and it's always a ton of fun!  Today I'm showing you what a received from the very talented Shari of Doohickey Designs.  This was such a fun package to open.  She made the most beautiful runner out of some of my most favorite fabrics.  The runner looks perfect on my buffet.  Shari was so kind to include fabric from her line as well as the Cath Kidston phone cover and all the other goodies.  I was overwhelmed and am very thankful!  I will show you what I made my partner soon.  Hope you are having a good day!

Blessings,

Wild Thing

It's that time of year again when the weather gets hot and the kids head back to college.  First year of grad school for the boy and second year of college for the girl.  I'm handling it much better this year since I've gotten used to having an empty nest at one point or another.  I still get those heart pangs but don't find myself randomly crying throughout the day as I did before (not yet anyway...)

I had a baby shower to attend for a special lady and had so much fun knitting and quilting for her.  I found a kit from Little House in the Big Wool and knitted the cutest monster (in his jammies!) and then made a quilt using the raw edge technique for the circles.  Both were very fun!  I packaged it up with a copy of Maurice Sendak's book, "Where the Wild Things Are" and gave it to the cutest Mom-to-be this past Saturday.  The quilt pattern came from the book, "Growing Up Modern" by Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew.  I used the circle rulers from Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet and it made cutting the circles such a breeze!

I had a lot of fabric left over and decided to make a surprise quilt for a special someone (I'll share later). I used the book in the bottom picture.  I didn't have a jelly roll but I did have lots of fat quarters so I cut two 2 1/2 strips from each fat quarter and it gave me the amount I needed.  I went through my stash and used everything that looked like boy to me.  I wanted it bright and colorful and I believe I achieved that!

Have the happiest of Mondays!

Blessings,

Sunday Scripture

In Christ,

Sunday Scripture

Joyfully,

Sunday Scripture

In Praise!

Preserving Summer

I'm starting to freak out a bit about the summer coming to a close.  Driving on the highway yesterday I was shocked by the leaves that are already changing.  While fall is so gorgeous here in Michigan, it's really early to see fall color.  We are surrounded by some pretty awesome farmers markets here in the Ann Arbor area.  I decided that I would give my hand a try at canning.  I didn't want to go crazy with huge amounts, but enough to remember what summer tastes like in the middle of a long and snowy winter.  I've started out with some roasted garlic marinara and yesterday put up some crunchy garlic dill pickles.  I also made some rhubarb and rosemary jam.  Canning is more satisfying than I ever imagined. The marinara was more involved than I was prepared for, all that blanching and peeling of 10 pounds of tomatoes for six jars but I know when I take the first bite I will be so happy that I persevered.  I'm channeling my inner farm-girl and I like her a lot!  Any canning for you this summer?

Smiles,

Hello, Hello, are you still here?

I am so happy to be back here!  I ended up purchasing a new camera as it was almost as much to fix it as it was to buy new.   I can't believe how much better the pictures are.  The summer is whirling by!  We've had lots of weddings, the funeral of the Mother of my dear, dear friend,  kids preparing to head back to college and another round of beginning quilting to teach starting next week.

I'm still getting caught up on custom quilt orders but did take a break to play around with Lori's Scrappy Crossroads block.  I was in love from the first cut of fabric!  I want to make this king-size so I have a way to go.  I liked taking this picture because it showed me how I need to balance the fabric in the blocks better.  The bottom two have very little white and so they are darker.  I really didn't see that till I snapped the photo.  So I'll need to make a few more like that so they don't stand out so much.  I have been paper-piecing for the Strawberry Swap I'm doing.  These blocks are so addictive. The book I used is "Cups and Saucers" by Maaike Bakker.  I'm warning you in advance, you won't stop at one (kinda like chocolate kisses, or so I hear!)

I've done a bit of thrifting lately and found the potholder and S&P shakers.  I just can't seem to get enough of this time period.  I'll be back tomorrow to show you what I've been up to in the kitchen. Hope you are doing well!  Blessings!

Hugs,

Sunday Scripture

With joy,